


remember us

by rose_de_versailles



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Summer Romance, Summer Vacation, annoying but cute pets, wholesome content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-01-03 03:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21172634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_de_versailles/pseuds/rose_de_versailles
Summary: With the news of Mikasa's grandmother recent condition, Mikasa decided to spend her summer break on the country side where she spent most of her childhood growing up. She remembers everyone there except for this one person, Levi. Why though?





	1. peanuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new story yay! i know i barely even started with my first one but this was about to die in my drafts and my ass is too lazy to save it somewhere else so it's getting posted yeet
> 
> this means slow updates though :-)

It was very hectic in the Ackerman family restaurant when Mikasa entered the store. The place was surprisingly filled with customers, there were even people lined up outside. She wondered what made the place so popular all of a sudden. It already was known around but it as never busy like _this_.

Mikasa’s mother noticed her daughter coming in while serving a table full of students “Mikasa! You're here already. Perfect timing, we sure need some extra hands. Do you mind lending one?” She was one step ahead though as she already went to the staff room to get an apron. Tying a knot behind her back, she went to her mom “I don’t mind, I’ll help till the others arrive”

They heard a bell chime, an indication that an order was ready.

Before the older woman could even go to the counter, Mikasa was again one step ahead and reached for the tray. “I got it” she reassured her mom. As she headed to the table she heard her mom shout "Don’t forget to tie your hair sweetie!" After she served the customers, she did as she was told. Biting her red hair tie between her long hair which was resting on her wrist, she hastily made a bun that came out as messy but she didn’t mind. She made sure it won’t get loose, her attention went back to helping her mom serve these annoying customers.

"Little miss over there! More peanuts!" A man held up his bowl, formerly containing the nuts. This man was clearly drunk, his face completely red, reeking alcohol most likely and one glance you would see the table filled with beer bottles. 

"Peanuts are not free sir, I hope you know that they'll add up every time you order one" The man just shrugged while still holding his bowl up. "Eh really? Well I guess my price for making a pretty lady serve me" Mikasa in all honesty couldn't be more grateful that he didn't cause a scene. She already had had enough of those. She took the bowl and placed it on the counter. One of the cooks should fill it up. 

_‘How in the hell did this place become so busy’ _she hissed in her mind, not that she hated that the business was now thriving more than ever but serving them alone would've been impossible. Her mother surely handled the crowd pretty well considering she was alone. She wondered where the other waiters were because when she came in all she saw outside the kitchen was her mother.

_'Don't tell me they're late'_

Just after her thoughts were finished, she sensed the door opening and it revealed a group of high school boys all sweaty and panting. She rolled her eyes. It was the waiters that were supposed to be here awhile ago. No wonders it was only her mother, they were late like always. The group immediately rushed to the staff room to put on their uniforms after getting a glare from Mikasa.

She looked around to see if the customers needed anything, luckily they didn’t so she walked with a fast pace to the staff room to give the boys a possible beating or a smack on their heads. The door opened with a creaking noise along the way yet she went unnoticed since the boys were busy with their uniforms. All of them were shirtless but Mikasa didn’t care, it’s not like she’ll do anything to them and they couldn’t do anything to her anyway even if they wanted to. And to be frank, she wasn't interested in any of them.

“Dammit Jean! I had a feeling arcades for today was a bad idea!"

"Are you seriously blaming me for this? It didn't look like that when we were in the arcade, seriously what's with your obsession for Titan Slayer?"

“I’m not obsessed with it! And Connie was the one who insisted on going!”

“But it’s the beginning of summer break! We need to do something fun to initiate it! Also don’t drag me into this!”

“Great, because of you two, we'll get our heads blasted by Mikasa”

“Well don’t blame me, no one knew she would be here today!”

“Eren, woo her or something”

“No”

“What? You not up for the challenge Yeager?”

“Come and tell me that when you can actually utter a single word in front of her without stumbling like a love sick idiot”

“What did you just say blockhead?!”

“Oh you heard me loud and clear horse face!”

Mikasa didn’t want to admit it but the ‘fights’ between the two _shitheads_ always amused her just as much how amused she was with Jean’s weird infatuation with her. She began to feel kind of sorry for Connie though, always stuck between the old-married couple. The amusement had to stop for now though since they needed to work their butts off the moment they get out of the room.

Their backs were facing Mikasa so they didn’t even notice she was there listening to the whole conversation including the part where they were gossiping about her but she already was aware all of their fears for her. She leaned against one of the locker with minimum noise as possible and faked a cough to get attention.

The boys were done changing into their uniforms, they froze and slowly faced the noise. They feared it was Mikasa... and they were right. _‘It’s the end for us’ A_ll three thought at the same time. She slowly made her way to them, making sure every contact with the floor produces a sound just to terrify them more. She lied when she said amusement had to stop. _‘A little more fun won’t hurt anybody’_

Once she was in front of them, she raised an eyebrow at them which made Jean die a little inside. “Why are you guys late?”

“Don’t kill us please” Connie mumbled quietly meanwhile Jean just stood there all flushed. Eren snapped out of his terror and looked at his friends, an idea promptly came to mind. He bumped Jean's shoulder. “Jeanbo here took a long shit in the arcade bathroom so that’s why we're late”

Oh really now?

Jean’s eyes went wide before shaking his head furiously “N-no that’s not true a-at all!” then hissed at the boy next to him _“Eren you little shit”_

“Okay, I believe you so go and stop letting my poor mother suffer there all alone” Mikasa was just shitting of course although Jean thought otherwise.

Jean and Connie immediately went outside while Eren stayed behind, well actually Jean stopped by the door and mumbled something along the lines of _"Of course you believe him, that ugly puke face" _and _“I swear I don’t shit in public spaces”_ but Mikasa just eyed him weirdly and ordered him to go outside. Sigh.... highschool boys.

She looked at Eren who just remained on his spot, searching for something in his bag. “What are you still doing here” He grinned not looking up from the bag, he continued to search while silently letting out cursed words in his native language. When he finally found it, he gave it to the girl in front of him.

“I heard from mom you were going to Grandma Ackerman for summer break” She grabbed the item off his hands and examined it. It was Eren’s red scarf, she immediately knew that because she used it once and because it was made for him as a gift from Grandma Ackerman, she got one as well but rarely used it. The warm cloth saved him from many many colds and became instantly one of the items he treasured very much so after hearing about her recent condition, -as heartbroken as he is- he thought it was best to give her his scarf. Just something to remember him by.

“I know she won’t recognize it but just in case, it might trigger something. We haven't visited in years though...” She sighed after hearing his words. It was true, it’s been a decade since they’ve visited. It’s not like they forgot about her but time and school was very cruel to them so visiting the countryside flew out off their minds. She smiled at the scarf while caressing it softly, it reminded her of her grandma's gentleness.

“Sure Eren” He grinned at her again.

Her eyes suddenly went to questioning mode “Wait, you’re not coming with me?”

Eren sighed dejectedly “I can’t, I suppose summer school wanted to keep their favorite student for one last time” she shook her head and chuckled at what he said although not all surprising since Eren wasn’t the best student around. If Mikasa was the star student, Eren was everything except that but since he needed the credits to graduate he was forced to go again.

He planned to go the same university as Mikasa so he needed to do his best. Mikasa went to her locker and stored the scarf carefully “Well that leaves us with no choice doesn’t it?” She looked at him with teasing eyes and Eren responded with a pout and by nodding his head solemnly. “Make sure to hug her for me please”

“I will, don’t worry” 

Eren headed to the door but stopped before grabbing the handle. “Oh! If it makes it any better, I can wait with you on the bus terminal” she was satisfied with that, he didn’t have to but he still promised her. She nodded as Eren finally headed out. “Alright, see you tomorrow”

The door swung open and suddenly a blast of noise suddenly came in from the customers and the boys.

_“Finally, took you long enough”_

_"Well I’m here aren’t I?”_

_"I hope you guys weren’t making out or something”_

_“Ew no, what the hell Connie?"_

_"Yeah what the fuck Connie?”_

_"What are you upset for Jeanbo?"_

_"The fuck! Stop calling me that!"_

She slightly cringed when she heard it as it brought back some memories. Mikasa and Eren were very good friends since childhood but it never crossed their minds that they were attracted to each other so one time when Mikasa was still in high school, they decided to kiss to see if they both felt anything. They didn’t but after that, it became one of their go-to stories -more like Eren's- at parties. Mikasa let him, it wasn't harming anyone anyways. 

Since the boys arrived, it was her time to retire. She took her apron off and hanged it on the hook. The idea of visiting the kitchen for her dad suddenly popped into her mind, she then decided to pass by for a minute since she still had to pack her thing before visiting her grandma. She was supposed to go tomorrow but preparing a little earlier wouldn’t hurt.

She opened the door to the kitchen and stumbled upon Reiner, one of the cooks in their restaurant. “Oh hey there Mikasa, I didn’t expect you to be here” 

“You weren't the only one”

“Yeah I guess so, I just saw the three stooges outside” Those three pair were nicknamed 'the three stooges' _without their knowledge_ by everyone in the restaurant, courtesy to Annie. A friend of Reiner who once visited, she stumbled upon the three and since she had a sharp tongue plus a personality of no fucks given, she ranted to her friend about how Eren 'picked up' a fork but in reality he dropped it on purpose just to take a peak at her.

“Where’s dad by the way?” Mikasa took a glance around the kitchen but no sign of another blonde head that wasn't Reiner.

“Personal delivery, said it was for Doctor Yeager. He’ll be h-“

“Reiner, can you help me with these?” A body popped out the door, it sounded like he was carrying stacks of boxes and was most likely suffering. Reiner immediately went to help the taller boy. “Jeez Bertolt you should’ve asked earlier, Mikasa can you watch this for me?”

Reiner followed Bertolt to the stock room, after that he went back to Mikasa who was leaning there watching over the stove, doing what Reiner asked her to do. He came back after a minute. “As I said, he’ll be here later, you can wait for him”

She didn’t plan to stay long so she declined and waved goodbye to both people and went back to the lockers for her belongings. “Alright, I'll tell him you swung by. Good luck out there!”

“Have fun by the way” Bertolt quickly added, head peaking out the storage room.

"Thanks" After making sure she got everything, she went out and greeted the other three boys and her mom. “I’ll be going now mom”

“Sure sweetie, I packed some stuff for you to bring there by the way. Don't forget it!”

“Okay, bye”

“Bye Mikasa!” Eren shouted despite being cursed out by the same man asking for the peanuts. "Alright alright free peanuts for you!"

_'_ _The only nut you'll ever gonna have anyways sheesh'_

\---

Time flied by and before Mikasa knew it, it was already 5 in the morning and almost time for her departure. With Eren by her side, they waited until the bus arrived. She surely appreciated his company or she would die from boredom. Cold wind passed by, Mikasa unconsciously rubbed her arms. _'Damn morning breeze'_

Eren noticed it so he asked Mikasa to take the scarf out.

She questioned his motives with the scarf as she gave it to him but to her surprise he wrapped it around her neck albeit messily. She shot a small smile towards him as he returned it with his signature grin. "Thanks"

"Don’t mention it, why didn't you bring yours?"

Mikasa shrugged, looking ahead "I don't know where it is" The countryside was always cold during the night time so she searched for her scarf but couldn't. Her mom reminded her to pack some sweaters and warm pajamas the night before today.

“Oh-” Eren abruptly said which got Mikasa’s attention, automatically turning her head to him “-I just remembered, you know my friend Armin right?” She nodded hesitantly, he mentioned him to her a few times. He said Armin was smart, could even rival Mikasa which piqued her interest in him and he also said that he was a famous blogger. “He’s that one kid that owns an anonymous food reviewing blog right?”

Eren nodded “Yeah, he actually went to your restaurant and posted about it. Look he sent a link" He took out his phone and opened the messenger app where Armin sent the link. He clicked on it and gave his phone to Mikasa to let her look at it.

After giving it a read, she was impressed, it didn’t look like it was written by a 17 year old and instead by a more grown-up person. So this was the reason the restaurant was packed yesterday. She gave the phone back to Eren. “Don't forget to thank and punch him for me”

“I'm with you on that. That peanut man won't stop pestering me until closing time”

"Expect him to appear from now on"

Eren puffed out of frustration. "I seriously almost punched him in the face! He kept asking for nuts, nuts, nuts and nothing else! Besides alcohol anyways" Mikasa patted his shoulders in sympathy.

Then minutes of silence took over, Mikasa and Eren just savored the cold breeze before he decided to speak up. “I wonder how the folks there are doing?” that made Mikasa think about them. She knew everyone and bonded pretty well with them, especially with her neighbor's daughter, Sasha.

Sasha was a good friend of her, in the early days Eren and Mikasa’s friendship were nothing compared to her and Sasha’s even with less time spent. They still keep in contact but the most recent was before Mikasa's final term.

Since they were on the subject of reminiscing, he decided to continue "Hey, do you remember Levi?" She blinked her eyes at that unfamiliar name which was weird because she usually remembers everyone -there were barely people there-, Mikasa tried to dig in her brain to recall who he was but failed. “Nope, who is he?”

He gaped at her “Are you kidding me Mikasa? That dude is i-“ he was about to finish his sentence but he noticed her bus approaching. "Look that’s your bus” He then proceeded to grab her things but complained after that “Oh man, what are in these bags? Mount Sina?”

Mikasa chuckled “Peanuts"

He gave her a glare, silently saying _don't you dare even go there_.

"And I thought heavy bags with gifts only happens after visiting” He grunted. Mikasa decided to hurt Eren’s pride without even noticing it by snatching the bags from him and carrying it with minimum to no effort at all. He secretly cursed her for being physically stronger than him.

Once the bus stopped at the stop, she bid farewell to Eren by hugging him while carrying her heavy bags which as result just hurt Eren’s pride more. “Bye Eren, keep an eye on my parents”

He hugged her back “I will” then she stepped in the bus, choosing to seat in the back. Eren said he would go when the bus leaves so they still had a minute or so. Mikasa opened the window, stared at him directly “Don’t burn your house, my house and the restaurant. Please”

Feeling disbelief, he scoffed at her with judging eyes “Wow okay I’ll miss you too Mikasa”

Mikasa shot him a last grin before the bus went moving. "I’ll miss you Eren, bye” then closed the window, finally settling in her seat.

As the bus went on its merry way, he waved at it even though he knew Mikasa wouldn’t see it. He soon left after that, on the way back the only thing he could think about is how long the ride would be. He already wanted to puke just by thinking about it, he didn't like long rides after all.

“On the other hand, I’m glad I didn’t go. Fuck buses"


	2. tree house

The whole 5 hour duration of the ride Mikasa just peacefully slept through all of it with the occasional stirs because of the stops.

“SHIGANSHINA! GET OFF BEFORE I MAKE YOU!” The driver shouted as friendly as ever, Mikasa flinched and was startled by the shout. Realizing that Shiganshina was her destination, she immediately shot up at her seat and gathered her things on the cabin effortlessly. She stepped off the bus and never felt any better. Buses always made her nauseous.

Since it was summer and she was now on the countryside, the temperatures surely had drastically increased big time. Mikasa was sweating buckets since the bus didn’t have any air conditioning, talk about an advancing economy. After freshening up and picking up a few snacks along the way by the mini-store from the gas station, she noticed two people standing around some sort of vehicle through the wide window the store provided. She didn’t know what to call said vehicle since she was unfamiliar with farm vocabulary.

As she stepped out the store she heard her name being called out. “MIKASAAAAAA!!!” Now that was a voice she felt familiar with yet also unfamiliar at the same time. Nonetheless her flawless reflex kicked in when the owner of the voice suddenly stepped into her line of vision and went out of her way which ended up the person on the ground. 

She just stared at the weird person, her face looked familiar though...

“Wait, are you....” she trailed since she wasn’t sure if she was right. The person looked at her with such interest and sparkly eyes, after that Mikasa knew now for sure who that person was.

“Sasha?”

Sasha suddenly squealed and went back to her feet to hug Mikasa as if the incident that just occurred didn’t happen while _silently wishing for her to not evade her again_, this time Mikasa let her much to her delight. Mikasa hugged her back “I missed you” then a scoff was heard, presumably from Sasha. Then she faked a sniffle “You didn’t even recognize me”

Mikasa let go and stared at her “Can you blame me? You lost half of you, do you expect me to recognize you?” Sasha chuckled at that. Mikasa was surprised since the Sasha she had in mind was cutely plump from all the sugar and fat she used to eat but the one in front of her was a Sasha that was _not cutely plump_ but a taller and _evidently _thinner girl if you compared her to the past. They did stay in contact but only via text messages, Mikasa was never one for social media anyway so no chance on seeing her there as well. Did they even have internet coverage on the fields because whenever she and Sasha talked, it always happened when Sasha wasn't home.

Sasha hooked her arm around her friend “Come on! Let's get you home and I'll tell you about my awesome diet!" Mikasa guessed that puberty finally hit her dear friend, not only was her figure significantly different, her face also changed its structure despite not doing any plastic surgery _which became increasingly popular over the past year._

“It doesn't involve potatoes does it?” Mikasa said with a teasing tone as Sasha was known as the 'potato girl' back in the day. Thinking back about those times, it sure did feel good to see her friend again. Sasha pouted “So you’re still like this huh, say are you still friends with Eren? or _more _perhaps?” her pouted face now replaced with a more mischievous and possibly flirty one plus the wiggly eyebrows. Mikasa eyebrows went up "Oh god no, we're still friends but we kissed once but that's it-"

"YOU TWO KISSED?!!" Sasha exclaimed, shock clearly overtook her entire body. Mikasa face-palmed and covered her big, _big _mouth. "Yes but that was experimental so please shut up now-" Her face may have changed but her lips were still big as ever unfortunately.

"-He's also interested in someone else, mind you" Mikasa quickly added before Sasha could say anything unnecessary back. All of a sudden, the country girl then pulled her to the unknown vehicle where she saw a person she actually recognizes _‘She also got stronger, jeez she may have lost half of her but her strength doubled over the years'_

She was pulled to Sasha’s father, Mr. Braus who immediately had his arms spread wide open with the fatherly smile Mikasa always liked. Mikasa automatically went to hug him, she also missed him since he was one of her many father figures along with Doctor Yeager.

“You look so different now Mikasa, I fear you've definitely become a Mitras lady” Both broke off their hug.

Mikasa chuckled “I'm still the same old, don't you worry about that" 

“I hope so, the moment I see you under a scalpel is the day I die” He joked. Mitras was known for its beauty-standards culture which Mikasa promised herself to not ever indulge in. "How are you by the way? And that runt Eren?"

She shrugged as she took the scarf off, hoping it wouldn’t smell all sweaty since she forgot to take it off. “I’m well and so is Eren...but he's louder than ever” Mr. Blouse let out a delighted laugh. “It wouldn’t be Eren if there was no trouble present” Mikasa just dreadfully nodded at that.

Mr. Braus then pointed with his head to the vehicle and said that this was their ride home. He said it was tractor with a farm trailer attached to the back. Mikasa got on the trailer with little complaints with Sasha.

The two were busy with chatting, doing some catching up until Mr. Braus interrupted “I don’t want to interrupt you ladies but seeing as Sasha hasn't done it yet, I just wanted to mention that we moved"

Mikasa’s head faced the back of the man immediately after hearing him then to Sasha. “Really?” which Sasha nodded at. “Yep, just recently actually. And you know what? Coincidentally, they were also Ackermans. Kuchel and Kenny Ackerman live there, and son actually but he is usually away since he's in uni like you. I occasionally visit your grandma to see how she’s doing so I'm kind of acquainted to them”

"They took a liking to your grandma. Nice folks if I say so, even if they’re not blood-related they still take care of her like she is one” The man up front added. She suddenly took a liking to Kuchel and Kenny, if they were willing to take care of her grandma just like that then they must be good people.

Their ride was pretty peaceful, occasionally recalling places she thought were familiar in her head to refresh her memory then they passed the forest where she, Sasha and Eren always played in. Mikasa took a mental note to swing by the forest to see if the tree house was still there. It was where she spent most of her time in. Losing her focus on the forest as they passed by it, she looked ahead and more familiar things come to mind but she couldn't help but ask about the tree house.

“Is our tree house still up there?”

Sasha looked at her weirdly then looked back at the forest “Our? We never had one” That was unusual Mikasa thought since she remembered being in the tree house with someone. “Oh but there is a tree house if that’s you were wondering about. We never played in there though” Sasha quickly added, reassuring Mikasa that it did exist and wasn't only one of her imaginations. Mikasa trusted her words, Sasha was pretty intelligent in her own way and had a pretty good hell of a memory. “That’s weird” Mikasa mumbled under her breath, getting buried from the noise the vehicle made.

Did she forget to mention that Sasha also had ears like a bat? “Yeah weird, you sure it was with us?”

“I don’t know, just forget about it"

"Alright if you say so"

They were nearing the house, Mikasa knew even though it’s been years. She could see the bright blue rooftop from the distance, it was hard to miss since it was such an obvious color.

_‘I’m almost there’_

\---

“Kenny” No response...

“Kenny!” Still no response

“KENNY!” That should do it.

“Oh dear lord what do you want Kuchel? Can’t let a man smoke in peace” A voice boomed through the net door which on the other side was, you guessed it, Kenny. The woman cringed at the sight she saw at her garden. It was a tall man with a cigar between his index and middle finger. Kuchel halted her current activities and went to him, took his cigarette to put it out when he was about to put it in his mouth.

“Kenny, Grandma Ackerman’s granddaughter is coming, I won’t allow you to smoke near her presence or in this house whatsoever”

The man wildly chuckled “That girl lives in the city, I wouldn’t be surprised if she smokes more than just good ol’ normal tobacco” Kuchel just shook his head disappointingly at him. “You better behave when she arrives”

“No promises. So whatdya call me here for?”

“I want you to get ingredients for the barbecue later, here’s the list” She handed him the list, as Kenny was reading it his eyes suddenly went up to the size of water balloons. “Are we feeding the whole army brigade here or what? Seriously just for one girl..... wait that glutton is coming ain’t that right?”

“Yes Kenny, _Sasha_ and Mr. Braus are coming along with the girl” She strictly emphasized the girl’s name to remind him to not call her that. “They’ll go to the bus terminal to pick her up later so please, if you must, be hasty with the groceries so preparation can start. Call Levi to go with you and pick up Isabel along the way" Wiping her hands on her waist apron, she walked back in and went on with her interrupted dishwashing while Kenny was just left there standing.

He made his way to the front porch if his little runt of a nephew was there. Indeed was he there, only to find him looking like a pale turd with a straw hat lying under the hot summer sun. Kenny went to him and kicked the wooden platform Levi was laying on.

“What the fuck do you want Kenny?” Levi grumbled not even bothering to look at him and settled on resuming his snooze. “Your mom assigned you as my slave today” Levi didn’t think it was possible to be even more annoyed than he was now but he was wrong. One action and one sentence from his uncle _unfortunately_, he already wanted to snap his neck.

He finally opened his eyes and glared at the man above him. “No thanks” then closed his eyes. Kenny didn’t back down, he only continued to become progressively annoying to which Levi gave in and finally got up.

“Fine jesus fuck, so what got you up and about this time of day dear uncle?"

"Oldie’s granddaughter is visiting so your mom suggested we give her a ‘warm’ welcome” Kenny innerly cringed at his sentence since he was never a warm person to begin with. “Granddaughter?” Levi raised his eyebrows at him. _‘_

_What’s she doing here after such a long time?’_

Kenny flicked the tip of his hat “Yeah” then he signaled Levi to come with him. “We’re doing groceries by the way, here, I trust ya know how to read” He tossed the piece of paper to Levi which he caught while shooting a glare at him for his attempt at insult. Levi scanned the list and was stunned by how many things they had to buy “Is she feeding the whole army brigade?”

The taller man suddenly eyed him with amusement in his eyes “Heh won't ya look at that? You really are my mini me” The glare was back on Levi's face, disgust was evident in his eyes “I don’t like you during the morning”

“But then again, when did you ever like me?” Kenny grinned.

"Got that right"

They proceeded to go to their motorcycles.

Levi decided to not comment on that and simply rejected to put on the helmet. Security was basically non existent in these areas so most people didn’t bother following some set rules although it also lead to people _mostly Kenny _to do some questionable things. Nothing illegal but still questionable. Not many lived in the area anyway so there weren’t much crimes around.

The Ackerman house in front of them was the only neighbor they had nearby, walk about 500 meters then you’ll get to the newly-owned Braus residence, walk another 500 meters then you’ll get to a small convenience store owned by some old drunken man.

Reason that there are barely any houses are because the lands are mostly occupied by fields and fields of crop. Shiganshina is one of the only areas that has soil that can fit every type of agriculture which was questionable among people. Though the area itself has crap security, the fields are heavily guarded by law to lure off people who wanted to take advantage of it.

After riding a fair amount of distance, they finally arrived to Shiganshina’s market place. He felt relieved that he saw other faces than his ugly uncle. Before Kenny went on ahead to the market’s bar _Levi actually calls it Kenny’s birth house_ , he reminded Levi to also pick up his sister from middle school.

_‘I gotta do everything myself, typical’_

Looking at the list again, he sighed “Mom, you just had to pick shit we don’t already have” Instead of complaining more, he went to the supermarket and progressed through so the earlier he gets it done, the earlier he gets to go back. He was all about efficiency.

Levi was an exceptional man so of course he got it done within the span of 17 minutes, could’ve been 15 if he didn’t spend the remaining 2 minutes cleaning the handle of the shopping cart with wipes. An exceptional man and a clean freak.

He looked down at his watch to see what time it was, it was almost time for Isabel to get out of school so he left his groceries by his motorcycle. Sending a warning gaze to people nearby, he dared anyone to steal it and if they did, they’ll get more than groceries on their way home. He went to the streets that he knew Isabel would appear at, that kid could be easily spotted with her red hair.

The bell rang from the clock tower. The moment that it did, a lot of middle school students with obvious amounts of excitement filled the streets. It was finally their summer break and were more than happy to stay at home and most likely play.

Not long after, he spotted the red head with some friends and made his way to her. “Oh hey bro!” Isabel noticed him as she waved her friends goodbye. “What are you doing here?”

Levi shrugged “Kenny” the girl just hummed. “He’s in the bar again isn't he”

He could only scoff at that. “Where else would he be tch”

“Whatever, let’s hurry and go home! It’s summer break Levi! Don’t you have any idea how fun this break is going to be?!” Isabel headed to his motorcycle and skipped happily while humming to her favorite song. Levi let out the smallest chuckle for his little brat.

Once they arrived by his motorcycle, he asked Isabel to stay there while he go and kick Kenny’s ass. He was probably already drunk anyway so he was basically asking for it. He reached the bar and opened it with much force which attracted some of the customers’ attention. His eyes scanned the space for a tall, gruff, ugly man and he was there by the bartender about to down his third shot of whichever poison he liked to consume.

He grabbed Kenny by the collar and moved his ass outside “Okay fun time is over, we’re going home you bastard”

“You fucking runt let me go, I’m not drunk” Kenny took off Levi’s hand of off his collar only to find that it was a mistake, Levi was much smaller than him so he was literally getting dragged by him. Letting him go only resulted in him falling to the ground, head on hard concrete. Kenny experienced much worse but it still hurt like hell.

“Let’s go, I don’t want to make Isabel wait”

“Fuck! That shit hurt... wait she’s out already?”

He sneered at the man “Unlike you, I actually listen to her ramblings about her school life”

Kenny held his up his hands as a signal of surrender “Got me there captain” He never did listen to Isabel’s ramblings about school activities.

“Just shut up and pick up your pace, can you even drive like that?"

"Aww is my dear nephew worried about me?”

“Tch don’t dream about it”

Levi wasn't usually a harsh person _to tolerable people_ but the thing that lets him get out of his shell is only Kenny. Kenny got onto his nerves pretty easily and not a lot of people can do that.

As they were approaching Isabel, she shouted at them “What took you guys so long! Mom just called, they’re there already!”

_‘Already?’ _Levi thought as he sat on his motorcycle. He glanced at Kenny who was already settling onto his and to Isabel who was doing something on her phone “Isabel come on” she pocketed her phone and climbed onto the back seat of Levi’s motorcycle.

They were coursing through the wind when all of the a sudden Isabel decided to say something “Mom said the girl was pretty” He looked back at her for split second before facing the front, deciding to stay silent.

The girl was pretty for sure, Levi thought. He recalled he actually had a huge crush on her from when they were little, whenever they played together they would go to the tree house up in the woods and play house, sometimes her annoying friend would come and play too but he preferred when it was only the two of them. _‘Those were good times’_ Too bad she never came back. He questioned himself as to why she would now of all times.

They knew they were nearing as they could see the blue rooftop and recognized the tractor from the Braus family. He was preoccupied with the road that he didn’t notice he passed by someone, Isabel did though “It’s her! Wow she’s tall”

His thoughts snapped as he heard Isabel shout. They made quite the distance so he looked in the side mirror hoping to take a glance at her. Once he did, he felt his heart skip a beat.

There she was, standing and staring at his moving motorcycle. She probably stopped when she heard the motorcycles or Isabel since she could be quite loud.

Levi remained to look at the mirror before he noticed they were there and quickly gripped on the brakes making a squeaking sound which almost sent both of them flying if it weren’t for Levi’s strong grip and Isabel’s strong hold on him.

“Woah are you guys okay?” Sasha popped out of the Ackerman house’s gate, she approached the both of them and checked both of them out for damages, mostly to Isabel since she feared Levi a bit. “We’re fine Sasha!” Isabel reassured by showing her grin, after getting an okay from the older girl she rushed inside their residence. Kenny already headed in and did god knows what.

Sasha hesitantly went to Levi "Umm are you… okay?” to which he nodded at. “Is she already here?” He obviously knew the answer but he wanted to ask for some reason. He could see the girl’s eyes brighten up at his question.

Hesitance slipped out her and excitement replaced it “You mean Mikasa? Yeah we arrived like half an hour ago! I swear she’s grown so much and has gotten much prettier” she sighed “I’m jealous... you know I think you two would get along”

He raised his eyebrows at her "Where is she now?” he knew this as _well_ _half of it_ but again he wanted to know for some unknown reasons. “I don’t know, she said she wanted to take a walk. I hope she doesn’t get lost though”

“I doubt it” he mumbled lowly, Sasha heard him say something but was busy fumbling with the groceries. “Hmm? You doubt what?”

“Nothing” he quickly said and that shut her up. Sensing he wanted some alone time, she went inside his house to help Kuchel out. He just stared at the road ahead him until he decided to go in and continue his very well deserved snooze in bliss. University was stressful for him, it didn’t help that the one he was currently attending was a dumpster fire so he wanted to rest as much as he can.

The bliss was quickly broken when he heard his mother scream for him “Levi! Get your butt in here!”

He sighed "Just give me 10 minutes" but everyone knew there and then he wouldn't get up in measly 10 minutes.

Just as predicted, Levi stayed there for more than 10 minutes since no one really came up and dragged him inside by the ear (he mostly meant his mom), he wasn't sleeping but lightly taking a rest eye. He wanted to take this as an advantage but then he heard the gate open. 

*bark*

*bark*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh yeah this was already in my drafts so i thought why not?


	3. who are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, sitting in the drafts for so long that it's collecitng dust. i don't know if there are any typos or anything that doesn't make sense in the story but forgive me if i do! 
> 
> anyways enjoy!

"Recognize this?” As they arrived at last, Sasha said as she stepped off the vehicle and pointed to the wall that sectioned of her grandma’s house. Mikasa trailed behind her and once she got close enough, her eyes squinted to see what she was pointing at. It was a wall with something carved in it, a sign of recognition could be seen on Mikasa's face. The wall had writings in it, done by Sasha and Mikasa _-mainly Sasha as Mikasa was just standing by her, keeping guard- _“Yeah, you did that right?”

"You? WE did that!" A feeling of bewilderment pulsed through Sasha thanks to her melodramatic characteristic. 

The other girl shook her head and shrugged with such nonchalance "Not from my memory we didn't"

Seeing that she at least remembered something made her friend at least contented. 

_“Sasha... I don't think I like where this is heading...”_

_“Don't be like that Mikasa, we need to mark our territory!"_

_"Our?”_

_“... what?”_

_“Never mind”_

_“Okay, think of this as like dogs pissing to mark their territory so no one can enter, you want to protect Grandma Ackerman right?"_

_"Ugh fine but don’t expect me to cover for you this time"_

_"Hehe okay"_

"Your logic was kind of ridiculous looking back" Mikasa reminisced with a small smile and Sasha did the same. Mikasa was about to grab her stuff but Mr. Braus was already at it though you can see him struggling a little bit. Both girls tried to help when they saw him struggle but he rejected their help. “Oh I got it girls, Sasha be a sweetheart and visit the Ackerman’s for me” Her ears perked at the mention of her last name. She looked at him with confused eyes and he noticed it. “They’re not relatives of yours, just in the same clan, the same one Sasha mentioned earlier”

“Let’s go inside, I’ll put your things in your room and get you settled” then he marched inside the property and stepped into the house while taking his shoes out.

Her palms suddenly became sweaty, she was nervous to meet her grandmother after a long time. After taking a moment to breathe, she went in and saw her grandma sitting at the porch like she always did _but back then she used to stand at the gate ready to scold Mikasa for not coming back in a week, the feisty and strong grandma standing so proudly._

A sense of guilt hit Mikasa hard in the face as she blinked away her tears that was trying to seep out of her eyes. Swallowing it away, she slowly approached her afraid that she would get rejected for some reason.

“Hey grandma, remember me?” She carefully sat on the porch next to her. 

"…" Her grandma just said nothing and continued to stare at nothing. Not even a sign of acknowledgement. 

This has been happening for months now according her dad, none of them could be able to visit though due to the business and clash of schedule but the other Ackerman's took care of her, one of them knew a doctor who could check up on the old woman. The doctor only diagnosed her short term memory loss and nothing else, as well as Doctor Yeager.

Both sat on the porch without uttering a single word, Mikasa looked up to the clear morning sky. Mr. Braus already headed next-door so it was only her and her grandma now. Taking this opportunity to refresh her memory about this place, she viewed everything around her.

_‘Not one bit in this place has changed at all’_ It was being like a time capsule in here, while everything outside this house seemed to fly by fast, the inside stayed all the same. In the same place, same position as it was before. “You really sure tried your best to keep this place the same huh grandma” Her grandma was quite meticulous about her stuff so seeing this wasn't all that surprising.

“...”

Everything was in the same place, it didn’t look like something moved an inch yet it was clean. Void of dust. Now that she thought about it, not one spot in this house has dust bunnies surrounding them. It was perfectly clean. The photo frames were clean, wooden floors were shiny and walls had no essence of grime whatsoever. Someone must’ve been cleaning the place up for her, she might need to thank that person when the opportunity comes up.

Fatigue started to creep up in her as she yawned “Grandma I think I’m going to head out, hopefully time is a bit nicer to me” She bowed to her grandmother and went out. Her instincts tell her to go inside the neighbors house but she also wanted to explore more. Her eyes lingered on the maroon gate ahead of her _'Oh hell, this is closer anyway' _

That can wait till later.

Just as she stepped inside, Sasha waved at her who was sitting on the concrete doorsteps with an insanely big piece of watermelon on hand "Hey Mikasa!” Mikasa made her way up to her. “Kuchel is just inside getting some drinks” Sasha patted the space beside her, indicating Mikasa to sit next to her. 

As if it was on purpose, Kuchel came out unexpectedly with a tray with three glasses of fresh orange juice. She grinned at the new face beside Sasha "Ahh I knew I felt the need to add another one” The tray on her hands was suddenly taken over by Sasha with the piece of watermelon in her mouth. Kuchel didn't remember giving her a piece but she then she thought the girl probably got it from their fields. A sigh escaped the older woman's mouth. Moving on, Kuchel took one glass out of the tray and handed it to Mikasa which she accepted with grace.

“Thank you”

“Don’t mention it. I'm Kuchel Ackerman” She wiped her wet hands on the apron she was wearing and put her hand in front of Mikasa, inviting her for a hand shake which Mikasa gladly accepted. Kuchel sat down next to her, taking over Sasha's space. “Pretty weird to be seeing another Ackerman other than your parents I assume”

Mikasa stared at her beverage absentmindedly and nodded “Yeah I guess so”

“Well I’ll just say expect two more. My brother and my son, they’re not here right now since I sent them on an errand. They’re very much like each other, it’s kind of funny seeing them bicker all the time but I assure you, they’re good people. My brother most of the time in his case but nonetheless reliable so if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask them or me for that matter" Kuchel chuckled. When she mentioned the bickering part, she was reminded of Eren and Jean back in the city. Is this her way of breaking the ice? “Yeah I have two barking dogs of my own as well”

Kuchel laughed at her so Mikasa guessed she knew what she meant. Now that she has Eren on her mind, she reminded herself to call him later if she ever got the chance. Sasha then came back with another fruit in hand and two empty glasses “Hey Kuchel can you give me some of these grapes? Man good harvest this time!”

“You and food... fine wait here”

Sasha grinned at the woman “I love you!” both watched her leave to the yard of grapes.

She leaned close to Mikasa and whispered "So how was speaking with your grandma?” Mikasa just shrugged but then she opened her mouth when she was reminded about something. 

“Speaking of grandma, I noticed the house was all clean and proper. You know who’s been doing it? I wanna thank them”

Sasha looked like she's hesitating to mention the name, as if it would summon them or something "Uhhh... L-levi’s been cleaning it. He insisted on doing it even though no one asked him to, he does a good job at it if I’m very honest”

There was it again, Levi. First Eren mentioned him and now Sasha as well. Who was he? Why does everyone know him except for her? When she was about to open her mouth to ask who he was, Kuchel came back with a basket full of grapes. “This should last you two whole days-”

Sasha turned to her with starry eyes but Kuchel knew that look so she sternly added “-if you actually want it to last that long then don’t eat them now” The girl pouted “Fine”

Mikasa let out a small chuckle, turned out that Sasha and food was another combination she turned to for entertainment.

She was thinking of leaving now to look around but she didn’t want to seem rude, the woman noticed her expression.

"You know what Mikasa, why don’t you explore the area for a bit? Rejuvenate your memories, Levi and Kenny won’t be back for atleast another 30 minutes _if we are lucky anyway_” Kuchel mumbled that last part.

_'Levi? Is he the son or the brother?'_

Opting to not ask, she silently thanked Kuchel for making the exit easier for her as she went out and followed the path on her right, her mind started to wander to Levi. From all the things everyone said about him, she concluded that he was either the son or brother of Kuchel, likes to clean and is _damn _good at it apparently and Eren knows about him, must've done something to remember him since Eren could barely recognize people.

But no matter how hard she tried to dig in her brain she still couldn’t recall him and she felt bad. Her thoughts broke off when she heard motorcycles and a high pitched voice _“It’s her! Wow she IS pretty!”_

Her head went to the direction of the noise and saw two men on motorcycles with one had a girl on the back. She stopped to stare at them _‘That’s Kenny and... Levi I suppose. Who is who though?’_

Whatever, she thought that she would see them later anyway but then again, it would be rude to let them wait. Contemplating whether to go back or not, she halted her questioning to call her parents or Eren, whoever was reachable at the moment. She took her phone out of her pocket and checked to see if there was signal, there wasn’t so calling Eren or her parents were scratched out of the list unfortunately.

“God it’s so warm” One swipe on her forehead wasn’t enough to get rid all of it, she just noticed that she was drowned in sweat so she decided to go back.

Change wardrobe and go to the Ackerman’s, that was the plan. She started to retract her steps and gone back to the house. Once she arrived, she went to the room she used to occupy whenever she and Eren were here. Of course not without greeting her grandmother first.

And just as she expected, it looked the same yet still clean. She took her personal bag and took out lighter clothes, she was currently wearing a light sweater which she put on in bus and washed out jeans. Mikasa remembered she had a pair of denim shorts so she wore that and paired it with a shirt and flannel, her eyes started to roam the room seemingly looking for something. 

Once she saw what she was looking for, she let out a satisfying "Ah!" and grabbed it. It was her straw hat that she used to use all the time, she and her grandma bought it at the marketplace for the hot weather.

She was tying her hair when she suddenly noticed movement in the room. It looked like it came from the closet so she approached slowly and opened it carefully, she wasn’t afraid or anything but just so that whatever it was won’t make a mess in the room. A bark could be heard. _‘Is there a dog in here?’ _

The closet door swiftly opened and immediately jumped into Mikasa’s arms which thanks to her reflex she caught. The dog was small yet very energetic, Mikasa wasn’t familiar with dog breeds but this one looked like it was a small Akita dog -_she watched Hachiko a lot so that most likely also helped-_

“Uhh hi?”Meeting the Akita for the first time surely felt awkward for her, and confusion also added up to the awkwardness. 

The dog began to squirm in her arms so she let it go and the dog began to sprint outside and into the road. Mikasa not knowing what to do followed the dog and sprinted after it. It looked like it headed to the Braus household.

“Hey! Come back!”

The dog was fast but Mikasa was faster, thank god for her godly agility but now that she ran it meant that she sweated again. After catching the dog, she held _him _firmly in her arms. It became obvious what his gender was when she held him. “You’re already causing me trouble....” she looked at the dog disapprovingly but that onyl lasted for a few seconds because of those _damn puppy eyes _ and for the fact that she can never get mad at dogs. “...but you’re cute so I forgive you”

‘Since_ when did grandma have a dog?’_ He wasn’t that big yet so it couldn’t be for long. He had no collar so she didn’t know what to call him _she was very tempted to call him Hachiko though_. Mikasa decided to ask Sasha instead, she must know something about this damn dog. Convenient for her since she was next-door.

Her hands turned the gate open and the dog began to squirm again. She let him go for the second time, making sure the gate behind her as closed and there was no escape route for him to go to. The dog barked and barked at the wooden platform and at _someone _for that matter. As she got nearer to the dog, she saw a person laying on it taking a nap. She recognized him as the one who had the red-haired girl on his back.

The barks got louder and that woke the person up. He spoke with a deep voice, probably course from the slumber he was just in.

“Stop it Joji” So the dog is named Joji... unique. Joji just jumped up at him and licked his face, he didn’t seem to mind though since he still had his eyes closed. She signaled Joji to quiet down and he surprisingly did, he settled himself down on the wooden platform and sat obediently. Mikasa took this opportunity to study his face, she sneakily put her face in front of him. Okay she knew it was rude to stare but she was intrigued and he didn’t look like he noticed her, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Mikasa hated to admit but she was very interested in him and she thought he looked familiar. He had black hair with an undercut, pale skin, kinda shorter than her but _an impressive build nevertheless_. She knew she was taking her chances but when she looked closer, she noticed that he had evident dark circles and a scar on his left cheekbone. A certain memory came into mind.

_"You’re bleeding!"_

_"Huh... really?"_

_"Yes! What happened”_

_“I got into a fight”_

_“A fight? With who?”_

_“My uncle”_

_“Why?”_

_“We just do”_

_“Oh... are you okay?” _

_“Yeah this is nothing out of the ordinary”_

All of a sudden, his eyes opened and stared right into her grey ones. “Huh look who finally stumbled upon the fields”

Mikasa became flustered so she moved her face away from him and stood straight up. Her eyes now focused to Joji who was still acting like an obedient dog. The man in front of her just stared at her while she was trying to not make it obvious that she just wasn’t studying his face a second ago.

Trying to look like she was observing Joji, she thought about the flashback she had earlier. It obviously involved him so she knew then they somehow interacted at some point in her childhood. After a few seconds of contemplating, she stared back at him. “Do I know you?”

He sat up and shrugged casually “I don’t know, do you?”

“I wouldn't be asking you that if I did?"

“Hmm, touché”

“Now can you please answer my question?”

He curved his lips slightly which made her heart beat faster than usual. “... how about later?” Before Mikasa was able to retort back, Sasha came out to call for Levi. "Levi, th- oh you're back! How was the walk?"

Her focus now went to the girl standing on the doorway, ditching the one on the wooden platform “I didn’t do it, I just got back and changed my clothes-” Joji quickly barked "-and met this dog" Joji then howled satisfyingly and stuck his tongue out.

"Joji? Hmm, I forgot to mention him to you" What a pretty crucial thing to forget about.

Levi felt annoyed that he was a forgotten subject all of a sudden “Oi what are you actually here for?”

Sasha looked at him confused for a second before realizing the _real _reason she came out for “Oh right, sorry hehe, Kuchel wants you. Now, I might add” Well that was his queue, Levi knew better than anyone than to let the woman wait as he learned it the hard way so he got off. But before going in he turned to Mikasa.

“I’m Levi by the way” So he was the Levi everyone was talking about but now that she knew that it was him, she might have to reconsider thanking him.

_“Welcome back brat”_ He mumbled, low enough to make sure no one heard him. 

There he disappeared along with Joji.


End file.
